Whilst I'll agree that super rugby is the best comp in the world at the moment, to sugggest there's no point releasing the game until the super rugby season is about to start is a bit narrow minded, bearing in mind that all of the domestic comps in the NH are well underway, the sales from the NH will undoubtedly far surpass those from the SH, and despite the lack of licensed NH leagues the game is still highly anticipated up here.
Yes there are concerns about the game, but I'd rather they just released it so we can all form our own impressions instead of leaving us in this limbo!
Your post seems to assume that I think that the release date should be dictated by Super Rugby and I don't think that at all. My post mainly covered two things. The game (even the little that has been seen and said about it), obviously needs more time and work. Those who've played it have said it's effectively the same game. There's information out there that says the engine is being ported over and that HD enhancement, texture enhancement, bug fixes, Be A Pro and Sevens are primarily the focus of this release.
Secondly, I was suggesting it would need a new release and promotional window, with great tie-in sales potential. This would require it to release around the time of great competitions in both hemipsheres. Right now there is nothing to promote the game alongside in the Southern Hemisphere. Where I am in New Zealand, sure there is, we've won the World Cup, so sure it would do well here, but we are a small market, it wouldn't be worth it. In Australia and South Africa it would be relatively sales suicide to release in the next month, with only Christmas to help matters. Whereas a release in late February would get the timing in sync with the Six Nations AND Super Rugby. Right now, sure you'd be able to TRY to push the game strongly in the Northern Hemisphere and they are a great sized market, but come on! No NH team made it into the semis of the World Cup and England didn't make it to the quarters. That would hurt sales, particularly within the semi-casual market. Nothing I said was about Super Rugby being the focus of release, it was about marketing globally which is key as sales of niche ***les such as Rugby games are important.
Throw into that the fact that a large chunk of the semi-casual rugby game market has probably already bought RWC 2015, and some uninformed buyers will not be keen to take a punt on Rugby Challenge 3 for a while yet. You have to remember that the casual market is significantly greater than the hardcore fanbase and now is not the time to get the full reward for casting your net. Sure I'd gladly buy it, but Rugby games aren't huge money-spinners, so need all the sales they can get. You'd possibly get a lot of parents buying the wrong Rugby game for Christmas etc by seeing "World Cup" and thinking "that'll be the one to get".
Waiting and working for 3.5 months (assuming Tru Blu would fund it), would be the best thing for the game especially if game-play is not currently a significant improvement. Releasing a crappy port of an old game, with bolt-on features and the same game-play would be a temporary curiousity and provide an excited week or two for people before they started wishing that it'd been worked on longer, enhanced with better overall gameplay and tested properly. We'd end up all calling for a big patch within a week and Tru Blu don't like to fund many of them, judging on Rugby Challenge's past.
Still, you're entitled to your view. I just wanted to discuss mine and clarify my feelings that seemed distorted in your reply.
